This pioneering film and Christmas classic was the first movie to employ "performance capture" technology to translate live performances into all-digital characters. In fact, director Robert Zemeckis has the nominal star, Tom Hanks, portray five different computer-generated characters in the movie. The story, based on Chris Van Allsburg's popular children's book, involves a doubting boy who boards a train to the North Pole on a magical journey of self-discovery. The 2004 film received Academy Award nominations for Best Sound Editing and Mixing, as well as a Best Song nod for Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri's "Believe."